1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive, and more particularly, to a disk drive capable of preventing a disk from deviating from a turntable by an external force and capable of preventing damage to a movable tray holding the disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a disk drive is a device which reproduces information stored on a disk or records the information to the disk while sliding an optical pickup unit in a radial direction of the disk.
The disk drive used in an information device such as a notebook is necessarily manufactured in a thin form due to its characteristics. Thus, the height or width of the disk drive is limited to a predetermined size.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional disk drive, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the disk drive of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cut stopper.
The disk drive of FIG. 1 includes a lower case 10, an upper case 30 which covers the lower case 10, and a tray 20 which slides in the lower case 10 and on which a disk D is seated (see FIG. 2).
The tray 20 includes a turntable 22 on which the disk D is seated, a spindle motor 24 (see FIG. 2) which is installed on the same axis as that of the turntable 22 and which rotates the turntable 22, and a base frame 21 having an optical pickup unit 23 which slides in a radial direction of the disk D and reproduces information stored on the disk D or records the information on the disk D.
The tray 20 is guided on guide rails 13 installed at both sides of the lower case 10. A guide unit 11 is installed to on both sides of the tray 20 and to slide relative to the guide rails 13, and is attached and detached to and from the lower case 10.
A stopper 12 is formed in a portion of the guide unit 11 and protrudes from an inside of the lower case 10 or the tray 20. A protrusion 14 is formed in a portion of one of the guide rails 13 catches the stopper 12 to restrict a moving distance of the tray 20 when the tray 20 is moved out of the lower case 10. A spacing portion 15 is placed between the lower case 10 and the guide unit 11. The spacing portion 15 is a necessary portion to assist in inserting the guide rails 13 in the lower case 10 during assembly.
However, as shown in FIG. 3, when the tray 20 is moved out of the lower case 10, the protrusion 14 collides with the stopper 12 and the stopper 12 may be cut by a collision shock. Specifically, when an external force is applied to the tray 20 in an X-direction (FIG. 1), the tray 20 is opened in the X-direction, the protrusion 14 collides with the stopper 12 and does not survive the external force, and damage occurs in the guide unit 11 in the direction of the spacing portion 15.
Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 2, a distance G1 is formed between the disk D mounted on the turntable 22 and the upper case 30. The distance G1 is optimized for operation of the disk drive, and is difficult to change.
When an operating shock occurs in a Z-direction (FIG. 1) while the disk drive is in the lower case 10, the disk D clamped in the turntable 22 does not survive the operating shock and may deviate from the turntable 22. In this case, an information recording surface may be damaged, information may be lost, and the disk D may be held in the disk drive such that the tray 20 is not easily opened.